"What the hell you are two doing here?!" Rei asked with a tone.

They both looked up at her. "Jaedite isn't here. We had the key and decided to wait for you."

"Get out of Jed's house," Rei said to them. "Now. You are not welcome here."

"I don't give a damn if I was or wasn't," Usagi said, standing up. "We have a score to settle, Rei."

"Which one is that, Meatball Head?" she paused and looked Usagi up and down. No more buns in her hair, no more meatball head.

Usagi stood in shock. Rei always used to call her that, and now, five years later, she still does. There must be love somewhere. "I guess you heard about what happened to Grandpa Hino. What a shame," Usagi said with a tease.

"Don't mention Grandpa's name," Rei replied with a fist in both hands. "Don't ever."

Usagi sucked her teeth. "And I guess you heard about Makoto."

"No. I didn't," Rei said, leaning against the wall. "What about her?"

"Oh, she's very angry at you, Rei. Mainly because of the fact that you disrepected me and ran away, taking our will power with you, and must of all, taking her power."

"Go on.."

"Well," Usagi said, "you understand that Sailor Jupiter does have a love interest, right? Right after you took her power along with ours, her lover was killed in a serious fight with a droid that was left behind. She couldn't save him. She tried, but failed, and saw him die." Rei looked up. "And that droid left soon after. Luna thinks to report back to their master and say how the scouts were unable to transform. And this 'hole inncident' has some kind of connection to this whole thing."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Rei asked.

"If you simply come back to us, we can have our powers back and help defend the world from disaster. It would sure make Makoto happy to repent for it."

"No," Rei said simply. "Now leave."

"I'm not going without the thing I came for!" Usagi yelled.

Suddenly, the door opened and the faces turned. "What are they doing here?" Jaedite asked when he walked in.

Rei ran over to him. "They threatened me and came inside without an invitation!"

Jaedite stared at Mamoru with a frown. "Mamoru, get out of my house. You too, Usagi. Let's go."

"So that's it, Jaedite. Going against your prince, too?" Mamoru asked, grabbing Usagi by the arm. "Let's go, Bunny."

Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei, causing her to grin. "Thank you, Jaedite," Rei said when the closed the door.

"Did they hurt you?" Jaedite asked, putting his umbrella in the corner.

"No, just surprised me.." she remembered Usagi stick out her tongue as she left. How old was she now? 22?

"Good," Jaedite said as she embraced Rei. "Your hair is soaked!"

Rei giggled. "Yeah, it was raining when I came back from Mako's. She's very upset with me."

"Don't worry about it," Jaedite said, holding Rei closer to him. "Don't stress over that drama. Don't worry yourself to death."

Something in his voice showed he didn't really mean that, so Rei stared at him with hurt eyes. He really cared about her, didn't he? Like Rei was supposed to care about Grandpa. Without even knowing it, Rei reached up and kissed Jaedite's pale pink lips and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she heard him say between gasps.

"What if everything Usagi said is true?" Rei thought to herself as she sat on the steps outside. "What if the enemy does return? How could we win?" Her eyes narrowed. "How could I win?"

"Rei?"

She looked up and spotted a little girl standing in front of her. "Hotaru!"

"Rei, what's the matter?"

At first, Rei didn't answer. Hotaru looked so much older; her playful child looking eyes were gone and were replaced by a more serious purple glare. "I'm surprised you are actually talking to me."

"Why shouldn't I?" she asked, tilting her head. "Oh, about the running away thing? Don't worry, Rei. I see what you are going through. Just do what you think is best."

She smiled, and Rei couldn't help but smile back. "Thank you, Hotaru. What are doing over here anyway?"

"I'm on my way to Chibiusa's house. We are going to watch movies tonight while Usagi and Mamoru are gone."

"Oh, that's sweet. Have a good time. Come by and see me soon," Rei said, trying to look happy.

Hotaru nodded and took a step up, then back again. She studied Rei for a while then her eyes grew cold. "I don't know why everyone hates you. You are a great person who is caught between the two people she loves. You've been through a lot of tough decisions, Rei, and I'm sorry no one but me can see that." Without waiting for Rei's answer, Hotaru ran down the street and Rei could hear her heels clicking until she was out of sight.

"You are right, Hotaru," Rei said, looking at the sky. "Why can't they see that?" She let out a sigh. "I have to do something. I've got... a bad feeling."

Late that night, Rei woke up in bed and tapped Jaedite on his shoulder. "Jed, wake up, Jaedite."

He tossed and turned a few times then finally opened his eyes. "Rei?"

"I've been thinking," she said simply. Jaedite sighed and sat up in bed. It was dark, but soon their eyes got adjusted to the pitch darkness. "...thinking about the approaching enemy. I don't like this one bit. Something's going to happen soon."

Jaedite put his arm around Rei's shoulder and grabbed her hand. "I've been getting the same vibes. All this hatred between the scouts and you is just foolish. They were terrible to not even give me a chance. You've been through a lot of tough decisions, Rei, and I'm sorry no one but me can see that."

And in the darkness, Rei could hear Hotaru say, plain as day, 'I'm sorry no one but me can see that'. "Hotaru... said the same thing," she said to Jaedite.

"No kiddin'?" He laughed. "Well, that kid has a point." Jaedite noticed Rei so quiet, so he rested his head on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Rei. What ever is going to happen, I'll be there to help. And maybe even young Hotaru."

Rei smiled. She remembered thinking, "Okay, if you say so," but she fell asleep before she could.

"Hotaru," Rei said the next day when Hotaru came over, "Do you think I did the right thing?"

Hotaru played around with her doll's hair. She might have been a young teen, but she still loved to comb her doll's hair. "What thing?"

"Running away."

She thought. "Well, as Sailor Saturn, I've ran away from many battles before and it never did any good. You just can't run away from your fears, but Rei, if you didn't leave, Jaedite would have been upset. No matter what you did five years ago, someone would still be left hurt. You can't please everyone. It's impossible."

"You're right," Rei said. They were both quiet for a while, then Hotaru began talking about the movie last night. Rei nodded once in a while to look like she paid attention, but her mind was on a different subject. What if she did return to the scouts? Would Jaedite still love her? But she must be a sailor scout in order to protect him. No matter what, Rei thought, someone will be left hurt.

"Hotaru?" Rei asked, once she was done discussing the movie. "I think I might marry Jaedite."

Hotaru smiled. "Right. Marry Jaedite and name all the children after me. But first, go back to the scouts and fight for him and your future."

"My future?" Rei asked, looking at Hotaru.

She nodded. "I'm Sailor Saturn. I know the darkness of the future. You must go back. Soon."